"How long?"
"Two weeks."
Amara shook her head.
"We can conduct the testing. But we are not waiting two weeks to protect customers."
Helen looked at her.
"What do you recommend?"
"Stop selling every remaining unit from the batch. Notify customers who purchased one. Offer a full refund or replacement. Pay for return shipping. Have an independent laboratory inspect the stitching and adhesive."
"That would require a voluntary recall."
"Then we issue one."
The operations director looked concerned.
"That will create negative publicity."
Amara turned toward him.
"Negative publicity is not the same thing as a defective product."
"It could affect sales."
"Then sales will be affected."
"Investors may ask questions."
"Then we answer them."
Helen spoke carefully.
"We could wait until the independent test is complete. If it confirms the issue, we could announce the recall with the technical report."
Amara considered that.
"Can we identify all customers who purchased from the affected batch?"
"Yes."
"Can we contact them directly?"
"Yes."
"Then we do both. We begin contacting customers now, explain what we know, and tell them that independent testing is underway. We do not speculate about the cause. We do not minimize the risk. We give them the option to return the bag immediately."
The operations director shifted in his chair.
"Some customers may not have experienced a problem."
"That doesn't mean we should wait for the strap to fail."
"What if they don't want to return it?"
"Then we provide the information and document their decision. We do not pressure them."
Amara looked around the room.
"I want everyone to understand something. The fact that our customer-service investigation uncovered this defect does not mean the investigation has become a problem for the brand. It means the investigation is doing what it should have done months ago."
Helen nodded.
"I'll begin the recall process."
"Good. And I want the supplier audit to examine the entire production process, not just the stitching."
The meeting ended with a list of actions and deadlines.
Amara remained behind with Malik.
He looked at the image on the screen.
"Another problem."
"Yes."
"One that could have been hidden."
"Yes."
"You're going to have a difficult month."
Amara closed the laptop.
"Then we'll have a difficult month."
Malik studied her.
"You're not worried about the financial impact?"
"Of course I am."
"Then why are you so calm?"
Amara thought for a moment.
"Because I know what happens when people start making decisions based on how a problem will look instead of what the problem actually is."
She picked up the report.
"We are not going back to that."
The recall announcement was published two days later.
It was direct.
Ebony Elegance informed customers that a limited production batch of the Celeste Signature handbag might have a weakness in the strap attachment. The company explained that 246 units had been distributed, with 183 sold to customers.
Customers were advised to stop using the affected bags until they had been inspected.
The company offered a full refund or replacement, along with free return shipping.
It also provided a direct telephone number for questions.
There was no attempt to hide the fact that the problem had been discovered through an internal review.
There was no claim that the defect was rare.
There was no language suggesting that customers had misunderstood how to use the product.
The announcement attracted attention.
Some customers praised the transparency.
Others questioned how the problem had reached the market.
A few posted photographs of their bags.
One customer wrote:
I appreciate the honesty, but I wish the company had caught this before I carried the bag for three months.
Another wrote:
I had a similar problem and was told I must have pulled too hard on the strap. I wonder whether this was the same defect.
Amara read the comments.
She did not respond personally to every one.
Instead, she asked the customer-service team to contact each person with a confirmed affected unit.
The company also reopened several previous complaints that had been categorized as customer misuse.
Some customers accepted refunds.
Others chose replacements.
A few refused to communicate further.
Amara respected that.
One afternoon, Rachel came into her office carrying a folder.
"We've reached 176 of the 183 customers who purchased from the affected batch."
"How many have responded?"
"One hundred and twenty-eight."
"How many requested refunds?"
"Seventy-four."
"Replacements?"
"Thirty-one."
"How many want inspections before deciding?"
"Twenty-three."
"And the rest?"
"Some haven't decided. Others haven't responded."
Amara nodded.
"Keep the process open."
Rachel placed another sheet on the desk.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"One of the customers sent a letter."
Amara opened it.
The customer was a woman named Elena Morris.
She explained that she had purchased the handbag as a gift for her sister. When the strap began separating, she had returned to the Manhattan store.
At the time, Victor was still managing the location.
An associate had examined the bag and told her that the damage appeared consistent with improper handling.
Elena had insisted that she had barely used it.